February 28Feb 28 My grandmothers had so much agency at the one-room schools where they taught it was almost unbelievable. One was in Appalachian Ohio and the other was in Ventura County CA. Recently I found the rock collection that the California one used to teach geology in the 1930s. Edited February 28Feb 28 by GCrites
March 2Mar 2 glad this is finally more of a priority — 👍 The Schools Reviving Shop Class Offer a Hedge Against the AI Future Hands-on skills are staging a comeback at leading-edge districts, driven by high college costs and demand for more career choices Andres Mendoza Alcala, a Middleton High School senior and aspiring carpenter in Wisconsin. By Te-Ping Chen March 1, 2025 at 9:00 pm ET In America’s most surprising cutting-edge classes, students pursue hands-on work with wood, metals and machinery, getting a jump on lucrative old-school careers. School districts around the U.S. are spending tens of millions of dollars to expand and revamp high-school shop classes for the 21st century. They are betting on the future of manual skills overlooked in the digital age, offering vocational-education classes that school officials say give students a broader view of career prospects with or without college. more: https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/high-school-shop-class-revival-24d7a525
March 5Mar 5 14 hours ago, taestell said: Unconstitutional While I'd like to say that he intends the proper definition of "illegal" protests here (violent, destructive, occupying buildings, threatening reporters or bystanders, etc.), I think it's fair to say at this point he neither knows nor cares what is or isn't actually legal or constitutional. He's gearing up for another Kent State 1970 every bit as much as he's gearing up for another Munich 1938.
March 5Mar 5 4 hours ago, Gramarye said: While I'd like to say that he intends the proper definition of "illegal" protests here (violent, destructive, occupying buildings, threatening reporters or bystanders, etc.), I think it's fair to say at this point he neither knows nor cares what is or isn't actually legal or constitutional. He's gearing up for another Kent State 1970 every bit as much as he's gearing up for another Munich 1938. and you can bet he’ll find another jim rhodes toady scumbucket to make it happen.
March 13Mar 13 https://apnews.com/article/student-loans-education-department-outage-layoffs-5afb5a0a1b51bbe50e5961a63b419041 What could go wrong? Federal student loan site down Wednesday, a day after layoffs gutted Education Department Very Stable Genius
April 23Apr 23 Student loans in default to be referred to debt collection, Education Department says https://finance.yahoo.com/news/student-loans-default-referred-debt-200132438.html WASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department will begin collection next month on student loans that are in default, including the garnishing of wages for potentially millions of borrowers, officials said Monday. Currently, roughly 5.3 million borrowers are in default on their federal student loans. The Trump administration ’s announcement marks an end to a period of leniency that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. No federal student loans have been referred for collection since March 2020, including those in default. Under President Joe Biden, the Education Department tried multiple times to give broad forgiveness of student loans, only to be stopped by courts. ========================================= According to one Web site (which looks credible but I just found via Google), about 4.86% of all federal student loans by dollar value were in default as of March 2025, so around $86 billion (4.86% of $1.777T). https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-statistics
April 23Apr 23 4 hours ago, Gramarye said: According to one Web site (which looks credible but I just found via Google), about 4.86% of all federal student loans by dollar value were in default as of March 2025, so around $86 billion (4.86% of $1.777T). https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-statistics I wonder, what is the comparison between "loans by dollar value" and the number of borrowers in default? And going beyond the loans in default, how many loan payments that were "paused" by Biden are now going to be restarted? Are these post-college, presumably young wage-earners at the age where they're looking to buy a house and start a family, and will they now have to delay, and what will be the economic impact? I expect that the impact will be small, but yet another headwind for economic recovery. In some ways it seems like the government is testing which stick will break the economic camel's back. Yes, "kids" are taking out far too many loans (myself included -- but all repaid) and some colleges are taking advantage of the ability to get loans to raise prices. (That is not the only reason that tuition has gone up faster than inflation, however.) But it is dumb and punitive for the government to provide loans at far higher rates than what they provide to big banks, and to collect many multiples of the principal in interest payments over the life of the loan. The government SHOULD invest in education -- the payback is in lower crime rates at higher levels of education, higher tax collections from more highly-educated workers, higher wage earners contributing to the economy, etc. The student loan program should not be a government money-making venture, however, the government goal should be to break even on the loans themselves. Recover the principal with an adjustment for inflation, that should be a win. Will Congress fix the student loan problems? (Just as soon as they fix the problems with the immigration laws, no doubt.)
Create an account or sign in to comment